Manchester United and Tottenham can now cast their minds forward to the Europa League last 16 after breezing through to the knockout rounds on Thursday evening.
Each team’s prospective path to the final chopped and changed on a night when all 36 sides in the competition played at the same time. Crucially, both Spurs and the Red Devils finished well inside the top eight of the league phase and will avoid a taxing two-legged play-off tie in February.
United finished third in the standings and were the only unbeaten team, despite their inconsistent form on the whole this season. They rounded things off with a 2-0 win at FCSB in Bucharest courtesy of second-half goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo.
Spurs, meanwhile, secured fourth place with a record of five wins, two draws and a defeat. Ange Postecoglou’s side finished the league phase with a 3-0 win at home to Swedish side Elfsborg. Dane Scarlett, Mikey Moore and debutant Oyindamola Ajayi scored the goals.
With the dust settling, United and Spurs will now face either Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, AZ Alkmaar or Midtjylland in the last 16.
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